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These lists contain the Sun, the planets, dwarf planets, many of the larger small Solar System bodies (which includes the asteroids), all named natural satellites, and a number of smaller objects of historical or scientific interest, such as comets and near-Earth objects.
Variation of the distance between the centers of the Moon and the Earth over 700 days. Distribution of perigee and apogee between 3000 BC and AD 3000. Because of the influence of the Sun and other perturbations, the Moon's orbit around the Earth is not a precise ellipse. Nevertheless, different methods have been used to define a semi-major axis.
The angular diameter of the Sun is about the same as that of the Moon. (The Sun's diameter is 400 times as large and its distance also; the Sun is 200,000 to 500,000 times as bright as the full Moon (figures vary), corresponding to an angular diameter ratio of 450 to 700, so a celestial body with a diameter of 2.5–4″ and the same brightness ...
The Sun is much larger than the Moon, but it is the vastly greater distance that gives it the same apparent size as the much closer and much smaller Moon from the perspective of Earth. The variations in apparent size, due to the non-circular orbits, are nearly the same as well, though occurring in different cycles.
The apparent size of the Sun and the Moon in the sky. The size of the Earth's shadow in relation to the Moon during a lunar eclipse; The angle between the Sun and Moon during a half moon is 90°. The rest of the article details a reconstruction of Aristarchus' method and results. [4] The reconstruction uses the following variables:
File:Sun, Earth size comparison labeled.jpg The sun and the earth. Size comparison only. The Earth and Sun are approximately 150 gigameters (1AU) or around 107 suns apart. File:Sun, Earth size comparison.jpg Without text Not for voting. The Earth and moon, shown to scale including correct relative distance. An amazing picture of the sun and the ...
The actual Hill radius for the Earth-Moon pair is on the order of 60,000 km (i.e., extending less than one-sixth the distance of the 378,000 km between the Moon and the Earth). [ 9 ] In the Earth-Sun example, the Earth ( 5.97 × 10 24 kg ) orbits the Sun ( 1.99 × 10 30 kg ) at a distance of 149.6 million km, or one astronomical unit (AU).
An eclipse of the Moon or Sun can occur when the nodes align with the Sun, roughly every 173.3 days. Lunar orbit inclination also determines eclipses; shadows cross when nodes coincide with full and new moon when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align in three dimensions. In effect, this means that the "tropical year" on the Moon is only 347 days long.